6 reasons health care costs keep going up

There are many reasons health costs keep going up. Bigger ticket items in hospital care and doctor visits are among the reasons why.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Health care reform will help millions more Americans get insurance.

But experts say the Affordable Care Act itself won't stop the cost of health care from continuing to rise and consumers from paying bigger bills.

Insurance premiums -- the monthly fees consumers pay to get coverage -- continue to rise much faster than the 2% rate of overall inflation. In 2011, average premiums rose 8% for individual coverage and 9% for family coverage, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

There are many reasons costs are going up; some apply to all patients, and others only to patients who get insurance through big insurance plans. But experts identify six main drivers.

Hospital care: Hospital care accounts for nearly one-third of the nation's annual health care expenditures.

According to the American Hospital Association, factors driving up hospital costs include the rising cost of goods and services used for patient care -- such as workers, equipment and information systems. Other factors are rising demand for care and compliance with regulatory requirements.

An increasingly significant issue for hospitals is the increase in patients covered by Medicare and Medicaid -- 60% of all admissions. Neither program fully reimburses the cost of hospital care, the hospital association said.

Hospitals are also seeing a jump in the cost of care for patients who can't pay, which averages about 6% of hospital expenses. Hospitals assume those costs as part of their legal duties to provide "charity care."

Doctor visits: According to the American Medical Association, the cost of physician care, both to insurance and patients, has risen 1.3% during the past year.

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6 reasons health care costs keep going up

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